The Shield of Hope
by AvengerFan22
Summary: When a stranger crashes in Beach City, he brings many new friends, enemies, and secrets. Who knows what will happen.
1. The Stranger

The day started of like any other in Beach City. The towns people were going about their business. Sadie and Lars were opening up the Big Donut, Greg slept in his van, since the car wash was closed that day, and Mayor Dewey was doing his usual thing pulling in people to gear up for re-election. On the beach, two small figures could be seen playing in front of the gem's temple, with three other figures on the beach house porch in deck chairs. These figures were none other than Steven, Connie, and the Crystal Gems. It was a beautiful day of summer, and Steven had convinced Connie's parents to stay the night the previous day. So, she had spent the day and the weekend at Steven's place, and she loved the whole thing. They were wading around in the ocean shallows when it happened. Garnet was heading in to get drinks for the crew, and Pearl and Amethyst began arguing over the superiority of tea and lemonade. I'll let you guess who was on which side. in the midst of their bickering, a great BOOM could be heard from the sky, much like the one when Peridot and Jasper came by a year ago. All four of the characters on the beach froze as Garnet burst through the screen door. Surprisingly, though, there was nothing to be seen in the sky. Was it cloaked? Then, Amethyst saw something in the sky. She signaled Steven to use his bubble for Connie and him. Almost immediately after he did, something crashed into the sand, too fast to make out. The Gems leaped onto the beach, summoning their weapons as they did. They looked just in time to see something else coming. It slammed down on the ground in a flurry of sand. The creature stood up at about eight feet. It was green, and resembled a rock candy creature with a vibrant green crystal in the center of it's chest. The Crystal Gems thought it was a corrupted gem creature. Just as they were about to attack, something rumbled from behind them.

Just as the surprised gems turned around, a flash of red, yellow, and blue flew past their heads. The next sound was a deafening _CRACK!_ as this flash made contact with the hulking creature. The gems turned to see a man hovering over the beast, in a blue suit wit red boots, a cape, and an "S" inside a pentagon on his chest. Pearl took note of the fact that he wore red undies over his pants as well, and that his suit was skin tight, and it fit his body well. His black, solid hair curled into an "S" shape on his forehead, and sat on a head cradling a perfect face, and a chiseled jawline. As Pearl gazed into this stranger's piercing blue eyes, Amethyst finally brought her back to reality with a slap on the back. She yelled, "C'mon! We gotta help take that thing down!" Pearl nodded i agreement, and the Crystal Gems leaped into action. Garnet busted the crystalline creature in the face with one of her gauntleted fists, as Amethyst followed with tying the creature up with her whip. Pearl jumped in and pinned the thing to the ground by spearing it in the chest. Surprised the thing didn't explode, the Crystal Gems held the thing at bay just long enough for our stranger to pull the green crystal from it's chest, and then dropped it immediately, as if from fear or weakness. The creature then stopped moving, and turned a dull grey color. Once the initial shock wore off, the new stranger thanked the gems for their assistance, and Steven and Connie ran to them, staring at this man with wonder in their eyes, as if they were meeting a celebrity. The Gems corrected themselves and stood shoulder to shoulder, keeping between the children and this handsome stranger.

Pearl then raised the question, "Who are you? Why are you here? And what was that?", indicating the creature.

"My birth name is Kal-El, but most people call me Superman. As for my reason being here, I was fighting this creature when it took me through some sort of portal."

"And this thing?" Amethyst kicked the monster's arm.

"That is a creation of my mortal enemy, Lex Luthor. He created it to try and destroy me. As a power source, it used Kryptonite, my only weakness."

Garnet finally chimed in,"So that's why you couldn't hold on to it for very long. It drains your power and makes you weak."

"Yes. In all of his creations, Luthor likes to incorporate the stuff to assist in my defeat. Again, I am truly thankful for your help."

Pearl then answered, "You're very welcome, Kal-El." She blushed when she spoke to him. Amethyst saw this and told Garnet as she snickered. "Garnet, look at Pearl's face." She did, and both began snickering. Pearl glared at them, and Superman stepped toward her and held out his hand, and Pearl turned to see this. As she took his hand she blushed, and they shook hands as a sign of respect. Steven then burst into the conversation asking a million questions at once. "Oh my gosh. This is so cool. Where are you from? How do you get your powers? Are you human? Are you alien? Do you like hot dogs? donuts? fries?" "How about we go inside, we all sit down, and I can tell you all about my it my young friend?", Superman suggested. Pearl replied,"That sounds wonderful! I'll put on some tea and we can all have a lovely discussion about our new friend." So, our group of six ventured into the beach house and enjoyed a lovely evening of discussion.


	2. Frenemies

"So you are the last of a dead race?" Pearl asked, almost reluctantly.

Kal-El responded with a simple, "Yes."

Steven looked upon this new ally with stars in his eyes. The man's powers included flight, super strength, speed, and heat vision, among other things. He explained how his power is derived from our yellow sun's radiation and that he is nigh-invulnerable. He then went on to tell about the many battle he's fought, against intergalactic tyrants, an AI called Brainiac, and, of course, the nefarious Lex Luthor. It seemed that 85% of the time, the trouble caused in Metropolis, where Superman was from, was caused by Luthor. The man even tried to clone Supe's once, but it failed miserably. The six friends all sat in Steven's beach house on the sofa beneath his bedroom. Steven and Connie sat next to each other, with Garnet to Steven's right. Pearl sat on Superman's right side, not too close, but close enough for her (for now, at least), and Amethyst sat to his left. She could tell Pearl had already taken a liking to the stranger, but Garnet didn't know how to feel about him. She knew that he was a force for good where he comes from, but who knows how this trans-dimensional travel would affect his mind. The portal that he described sounded a lot like something she encountered long ago, before the age of civilized man. When Vikings still traversed the sea, and the roman's empire still stood strong.

You may have heard the legends. A mythical bridge that could take one across worlds and dimensions to other realms. It's name was Bifrost. But it wasn't the rainbow bridge the Nordic warriors thought it was. it was, in fact, a modified version of the galaxy warp, except it was much more powerful, and could traverse across the universe, instead of just across star systems. So, it was most likely that this "super man" was in fact from another dimension, and is not even of this reality, which explains why they've never heard of him before. Garnet heard the stories when she was younger, but never experienced the Bifrost for herself. however, she did see the effects of it on biological minds. Some humans would sneak into it, and as a result, it would tear their conscience apart, warping their minds and distorting their realities. The effect was anything but pleasant. they became murderous, belligerent, psychopathic monsters that killed anything that moved with no remorse. it was terrible. Back in those days, Garnet would have to put down more than she would like to remember. So, it was possible that this new stranger was a threat and need to be dealt with. So, in the midst of the others' conversation, she slipped away onto the beach to retrieve the kryptonite off of the beach. When she was sure no one could see her, Garnet bubbled the green crystal and sent it to her room. If they were to stand a chance against him, they would need all the help they could get.

When she returned inside, she noticed that Amethyst was the only one inside. "Where are they?" Garnet asked Amethyst. She replied by lazily pointing up to the lighthouse above the temple. Garnet immediately ran outside to leap up to stop whatever this strange person was up to. But, just before she took off, she looked up to see him carrying Pearl in his large, muscular arms and flying through the sky, carrying her as if she was weightless. Pearl was visibly enjoying herself as he carried her to the sky. When they were finished, he slowly came back to Earth, just out of her field of vision. A few seconds later, he took off again, this time with Steven on his back, and Connie with her arms wrapped around Steven, as if she'd never let go. This continued on for a while, until Garnet finally burst into the scene, but taking the long way around. She showed up, arms crossed when Superman came down with Pearl again. She scolded them for behaving so recklessly, expecting this stranger to snap and show his true colors. But instead, he did something totally surprising. He lowered his head, walked towards her, and sincerely apologized for his actions. Shocked, Garnet just stood there for a few moments, then she came out of it, and accepted his apology.

Perhaps she was wrong. Maybe, because of his Kryptonian physiology, his mind wouldn't be affected by the Bifrost, and maybe his intentions are good. But soon, _very_ soon, Superman and the Crystal Gems would be put through a trial that would test their new found relationship.


End file.
